The Trolley Dodger

Until 1955, the Brooklyn Dodgers had gone through a long series of near-misses at World Series glory, coming close but not close enough. It became a running theme and spawned a team slogan: “Wait ’til next year!” Next year finally did show up, but it was a long wait.

The Yankees were the Dodgers’ perennial opponents when they made it to the series back then, so the Bombers losing it in 1955 to the Bums made it even sweeter. Putting it in video-game terms for the younger set, they were the final boss that it took forever to beat. This was one of the reasons I was hoping for a Yankee-Dodger World Series this year.

Apart from the wrenching disappointment the past week, and a few issues here and there, the 2009 season has been more of a joy to follow than not. On a personal level, having the opportunity to attend the Bluetopia premiere, the annual Dodger Blogger Night (the night before the Manny revelation), and particularly getting to cover the game as a member of the press are memories I’ll never lose.

Thanks to the Dodgers organization and team for a great year and for continuing to reach out to the online fan community. Thanks to my fellow Dodger bloggers for lots of entertaining and thoughtful commentary this season — especial thanks and kudos to Jon Weisman of Dodger Thoughts, the sundry Sons of Steve Garvey, the intrepid lads of True Blue LA, the aptly named Blue Heaven, Ken Steinhorn of isportsweb, and Larry and Keith over at the always-fascinating Daily Mirror.

Congratulations to the Phillies on the NL Pennant, and while I don’t see myself exactly cheering you on the next few weeks, please destroy the Yankees if you get the opportunity. Pretty please? ;)

Finally, thanks to everybody for reading Trolley Dodger in 2009. The site’s third anniversary is coming up next week. Can’t believe it’s been three years!

I expect to be posting here during the off season, as there will be the inevitable melodrama, speculation, and other craziness, but I’m guessing a short break will do a body good. So we won’t have to wait ’til next year to solve the myriad problems of the baseball universe, thanks to 24-hour sports news and the Internet, but we will have to wait ’til then for more Dodger baseball.

See ya!

Thanks to Larry Harnisch of the LA Times and The Daily Mirror blog for hosting lunch this afternoon at the always-tasty Philippe’s restaurant. We had a great time talking Los Angeles history, including our various theories on the true origins of the French Dip sandwich.

Also there and very entertaining was Ed Fuentes, Arts & Culture Editor at Blog Downtown, who writes view from a loft as well.

I’ll look forward to seeing you all again next time.

And thanks to Alex of Ravens in Hollywood for the lift.

I ran across a phrase in an article on a member of the soccer club I’ve adopted as favorite, Bohemian FC of Dublin:

It may have taken some time for the 21-year-old [Conor Powell] to break his duct, but he has become such a notable regular in the starting eleven that supporters would be forgiven for thinking that he already had a few goals under his belt.

From a quick Google, it looks to be a typo for “break his duck,” as in duck’s egg, as in nought or zero — what we’d refer to as a goose egg.

It’s originally a 19th-century cricket term, e.g. “break his duck’s egg” meaning to score at last. Michael Quinion says:

It’s not as cruel as it sounds. It’s not the duck that’s being broken, but a duck’s egg. These days the expression can be used in almost any game that involves a score of some sort but originally — back in Victorian times — it related solely to cricket. It seems to have been English public-school slang of the 1850s to call a score of nought against a player’s name a duck’s egg — presumably a duck rather than a chicken because a duck’s egg is bigger and more prominent.

A player who had scored, who had moved off that accusing zero on the scoreboard, was said to have broken his duck’s egg. It began to appear in print in the early 1860s and soon people shortened it just to duck. The first known example of that form appeared in the Daily News in August 1868: “You see … that his fear of a ‘duck’ — as by a pardonable contraction from duck-egg a nought is called in cricket-play — outweighs all other earthly considerations.” A batsman who was dismissed without scoring was said to be out for a duck.

Got an email just now asking me to pass along info about what looks like a fun event upcoming tomorrow (9/23) afternoon:

Former Dodgers catcher Jim Campanis will headline tomorrow’s Dodgers Watch Party at ESPN Zone at L.A. Live at 4 p.m. Campanis, who will meet with fans and sign autographs, was traded from the Dodgers to the Royals in 1968 by Los Angeles GM Al Campanis—his father—for two minor leaguers and cash.

Fans will also have a chance to enjoy an All-You-Can-Eat Dodger Dogs buffet for $10 as the NL West-leading Dodgers face off against the worst team in the majors—the Washington Nationals.

All-you-can-eat Dodger Dogs would be reason enough, so getting an autograph from a former Dodger seems like icing on the cake. :D

(More on Jim Campanis at baseball-reference.com.)

“Hardie Henderson: Champion Base Ball Pitcher” — pitched from 1883-1887 for the Philadelphia Quakers, Baltimore Orioles, Brooklyn Grays (19th-century precursor to the Brooklyn Trolley Dodgers), and Pittsburgh Alleghenys.

In a horrible bit of irony, Henderson was killed in February 1903 when he was run over by a train trolley.[1]

Read more at:

• baseball-reference.com
• Wikipedia

[1] See this history of native Philadelphian ballplayers at Google Books.